The Frost Marches

PAGE OUTDATED - Pending overhaul

You are here.

The Frost Marches are a backwater borderland between the northern reaches of the Belharan Empire (or what's left of it anyway), the minotaur kingdom of Khor'minos, the Winter City of the pale elves, and several city-states and other settlements such as Tychris.

The region is lawless and full of adventure at the best of times... which these are not. Lucky for the folk that call this cold collection of snow-capped mountains and crumbling rump states home, there's a new Champion ready to make his or her mark on the world of Savarra.

A snowy, mountainous and forested land towards the north of the world of Savarra, where the main story of CoC2 takes place.

To the east, accessible via the foothills is a range of craggy mountains which house Khor'minos, the legendary city of the minotaurs and one of the biggest cities in the world. The mountains are covered in old ruins and hidden paths from the Godswar and before.

To the north are seemingly endless forests.

Humans are the most populous race of Savarra, though they hold little sway in the Frost Marches. The beast-kin races — the wolf-like Lupines especially — are far more prominent, having settled the north in an age long before humanity first began to expand from scattered tribes. Humans spent many years encroaching upon the territory of the Frost Marches, and eventually gained purchase despite resistance from Lupines. Orcish warbands raid the coastlands east of Hawkethorne, encroaching ever closer on humanity's tenuous footholds, while elvish explorers are eager to make contact with their long-isolated sisters in the heart of the snow-blown forests. Some daring Catfolk merchants and adventurers come to the Frost Marches in search of riches and new horizons, far removed from their desert home.

The Frost Marches, the region CoC2 takes place in, was once a far-removed Belharan province, home to Castle Hawkstone and its surrounding village, plus a great city carved into the heart of the mountains. The humans here pushed up against the tribal Lupines, who had no interest in joining the empire or surrendering their territory. Violence ensued for decades until the sudden and unexpected collapse of the Belhar Empire left its citizens either plague-ridden or stranded. Civilization and trade in the region collapsed utterly, ushering in decades of tribalism and isolation. Nobody has seen the Winter City of the pale elves, once the shining jewel of the north, since Belhar fell.

Humanity was pushed back just in time for orcish raiders to come calling on the lupines, hoping to steal the imperial treasures left behind. Orcs and wolf-folk have been having it out for centuries in the Frost Marches ever since, until finally a new wave of humans arrived some 10 years ago and founded the village of Hawkethorne on the ruins of Hawkstone. The lupines didn't have the strength to push the humans back, especially with orcish warcamps in the foothills. So the village has been allowed to stay, and the scattered tribes of wolf-folk have gone to ground, hoping to end the years of violence. The orcs, too, seem content to raid less and less, instead of searching for ways into the sunken city the empire left behind. Unfortunately for them, the mountains have proved impassable.

Far north of Hawkethorne lies the Winter City: the kingdom of the pale elves, amazonian fey as beautiful as they are cold. Once staunch allies of the Belhar Empire, they've retreated into isolation in fear of plague and violence. While other elven races have come north with humanity, like the Wyld Elves, their pale cousins have not reached out. Many wonder as to their fate after two centuries of isolation..." – Corruption of Champions II: Public Design Document

Regions

---

• Foothills
• Hawkethorne
• Old Forest